For clear heads I would say that they are about even. As far as coated heads go a lot of poeple have grieved the fact that remos coating wears quickly. So, for coated heads I would say Evans are more durable and consistent than remo. From a sound perspective I don't think the audience can tell the difference between companies. Both companies make great sounding heads.
I would say tuning is 95% of the game here always has been.

Evans are as good as Remo. Aquarian heads are good too as drumeatdrum has stated.
Hope you get over your cold dude

My experience has been that Remo's 2-ply heads have chronic quality issues. In a large percentage of them - 25-33% in my experience - the plies don't lay flat against each other, and the head won't tune. They sound dead.

My experience with Evans heads over the past 11 years is that their 2-plies have been 100% perfect. In fact, I've only had one questionable head from them, which out of the several hundred I've used, is a ridiculously low failure rate.

I haven't used many Aquarian heads, but the quality has always been great with them.

There is a way to beat the Remo system though. Go into the store, tap-test the heads and buy the ones that have tone. I know it's ironic that you'd have to separate the good heads from the bad ones, but drummers have been doing it for decades, apparently without questioning the process.

Coatings are another issue, and they will wear off any head that has it sprayed on. Remo is reputed to wear off very quickly, although when I used coated remos back in the day, I never had that problem. It's possible that the coating formula has changed, thanks to California's strict environmental compliance laws. That's the only thing I can think of that may have changed in the last dozen years since I used a Remo product.

For clear heads I would say that they are about even. As far as coated heads go a lot of poeple have grieved the fact that remos coating wears quickly. So, for coated heads I would say Evans are more durable and consistent than remo. From a sound perspective I don't think the audience can tell the difference between companies. Both companies make great sounding heads.
I would say tuning is 95% of the game here always has been.

Evans are as good as Remo. Aquarian heads are good too as drumeatdrum has stated.
Hope you get over your cold dude

Thanks man. I think ill give evans a shot with the coated, to see if they last longer. I think im gonna try the G-plus coated, cuz when i used coated ambassadors on my toms, the floor toms sounded too papery. And i've gotten pretty anal about my tuning so i dont think thats a problem ahhaa. i usually just tune by ear and tune bottom head a pinch lower, for rock stuff at least. Thank you again

Another drummer showed me this: next time you are at the music shop take out an Evans and Remo head that close to each other as possible, (for example a coated Emperor and a coated G2 in the same size). Grab the head and hold it just by the metal rim and strike the middle with your finger and compare how they sound. I was surprised how dead the Remo head sounded. The guy at the drum shop said some of the Remo heads just sound dead - not all but he performs that test before making a purchase.

The guy at the drum shop said some of the Remo heads just sound dead - not all but he performs that test before making a purchase.

Kinda sad that the customer has to handle quality control at the retail level. Those heads should never have been shipped to stores. And of course Remo's response is: 'If you have a problem with a head, send it back, we'll replace it.' Drummers probably regard that as great customer service, when in fact it's Remo's poor quality control, and their hope that they'll have to replace fewer heads in the long run than they would have caught in the first place. In short, many drummers will just accept the bad heads, and Remo's off the hook for them.

Hate to tell you all this. I've tap tested every head I've ever bought for over 25 years now and although it won't hold much weight around this place, the simple truth is that I've put back Evans heads that were duds too.

Glad I don't believe everything I hear on forums. There's a danger I may even be convinced to drop Remo........despite what years of experience tells me about the product.

Kinda sad that the customer has to handle quality control at the retail level. Those heads should never have been shipped to stores. And of course Remo's response is: 'If you have a problem with a head, send it back, we'll replace it.' Drummers probably regard that as great customer service, when in fact it's Remo's poor quality control, and their hope that they'll have to replace fewer heads in the long run than they would have caught in the first place. In short, many drummers will just accept the bad heads, and Remo's off the hook for them.

Bermuda

Fair point. The trade-off is if you get a good head it sounds better (to my ears at least) than any other available heads. I do wish Remo had better quality control though.

I just returned two Evans G2 coated heads to the shop today. One was a 13" G2 coated and the other was a 12" G2 coated. They were two heads of a three head "tom pack". The Evans heads that I bought singly at the same time, the 10", 14" and 16" G2 coated heads were all fine. When I returned the heads I spoke to the person directly involved with ordering Evans products and he stated that he's been seeing this problem quite a bit lately and Evans has been great with return credits. He further said that Evans is doing a bit of "improving" with their manufacturing process, but the vendors are not really privileged to what these processes are and when they're instituted. We were also talking a bit about the collars on the heads, some being crimped and others not. One of the heads I returned was crimped and the other was not and they both came from the same "tom pack". I can't remember which collar we were talking about at the time, but an Evans employee made the comment to him that tensioning in a star-like pattern isn't really necessary with one of the styles. We both rolled our eyes at that one.

So in the long run, you really have no idea when buying heads what "improvement" you're really getting. I told him that I also have three dead Evans G2 clear heads, an 8", 10" and a 16" but I couldn't find their receipts, he told me to bring them in anyway for replacements. This same drummer/salesperson visited the Evans plant several months ago and got to see first hand, the manufacturing of Evans heads.

So who really knows other than Evans what type of improvements we are buying. In my case I actually have no idea which work and which don't until the heads are mounted on the drum.

BTW, I've actually been using the finger flick test which seems to help a bit on the head selection process. If encountering a "dead' head, this usually shows it up as a lifeless dull flabby thud without any sustain. This works on the single boxed heads buy not very well with the packaged tom packs where the package would have to be torn open.

I guess I feel as if that's the con, the pro is that the Evans coatings is much more resilient than most of the Remo coated heads I've been using.

okay so i have always used nothing but remo since i started drumming (7 years), i have never had a problem with tuning or sound other then the coating problem, i love remo regardless. but two days ago i got upset. i bought a fyberskin powerstroke 3 head for my 18'' bass drum. when i was putting it on i noticed that my drum hoop wouldnt align 100% with the head. i began the tuning process and i noticed that one side of the head was alot closer to the hoop when i was done tuning all sides equally (i use a drumdial) and on the opposite side i could see part of the head edge (where the glue is). i took the head off and inspected the head edges, i noticed that the glue on the sides werent even. i went to guitar center the next day and explained to the guy there that i know, he took a look at the head and said that it looked perfectly fine and even measured the edges of the head to make sure it was perfectly round and it was, he said that he used the same exact head and that he has never had a problem with any remo head even though he doesnt use the brand much and that i might want to do some tests that he suggested to make sure my hoop was a good even circle. he said i could return the head if i wanted to or take it back and make sure that my hoop was good before returning it. i really love the sound and look of remo's fyberskins so i took it back and found out that my hoop was healthy. i didnt care so i still put the head on my drum. somehow i was able to tune it right. it couldnt have been that i didnt seated the head because i use it as a reso anyway but i still did. im still doubting if i got a bad head or not but oh well. what do you guys think? any similar experiences with remo?

Another drummer showed me this: next time you are at the music shop take out an Evans and Remo head that close to each other as possible, (for example a coated Emperor and a coated G2 in the same size). Grab the head and hold it just by the metal rim and strike the middle with your finger and compare how they sound. I was surprised how dead the Remo head sounded. The guy at the drum shop said some of the Remo heads just sound dead - not all but he performs that test before making a purchase.

Regardless of what is said here, my experience has been good with both brands. I still contend that when I play Remo, the heads play out over a longer period of time before they completely die. With Evans, when they start to go, they kinda die in a sudden way. Either way, I've probably experienced about an equal amount of dissatisfaction from both brands. That said, mind you I'm changing out my batters at least once every six weeks - with the current project I'm working with, I'm not breaking heads as much as completely wearing them out alot quicker during this summer (I'm playing really hard). When I lighten up and just play indoors in clubs/restaurants, that will slow quite a bit. But when something important comes up, I'm changing heads again because I don't want to be replacing heads during a gig (although I do carry spares in my trap case).

Owning a kit is like owning a car with no job. I realize its hard to make sure you're putting your best foot forward everytime you go out when you're probably not making any money off of it to begin with, but priorities are priorities. Perhaps you should try Remo Black Dots if you're looking for durability - with the plus that you'll have a completely different sound from everyone else because black dots have fallen out of favor with many drummers by now, but they're still viable heads.

Thanks man. I think ill give evans a shot with the coated, to see if they last longer. I think im gonna try the G-plus coated, cuz when i used coated ambassadors on my toms, the floor toms sounded too papery. And i've gotten pretty anal about my tuning so i dont think thats a problem ahhaa. i usually just tune by ear and tune bottom head a pinch lower, for rock stuff at least. Thank you again

Your welcome and sorry I wasn't implying you cant tune I was just merely stating a fact that all of us who have been drumming for some years know that tuning is paramount. Some of us tune our reso higher some lower and some even, whatever floats your boat as long as your kit sounds good with you playing it.

I always do the tap test when buying 2 ply heads, if possible. I have had more problems with Remo than Evans, but have had both brands deliver dull heads. Evans coating does last alot longer than Remo's, and like Bermuda said, that wasn't the case many years ago....something has changed. I've been having good luck lately with both brands in their 2 ply heads. I bought some coated G2's (4) and coated vintage emperors (3) from Musician's friend and they were all perfect. Wheeeew!